I watched Slacker tonight and absolutely loved it. This, It's Impossible To Learn To Plow By Reading Books (the commentary of which, having finished listening to, is one of the best I've heard since...oh, PTA's last commentary, maybe), Waking Life and the Before Sunrise/Sunset really cement Linklater's brilliance in my mind. I'm about to watch the Slacker commentary track. More later, probably.

This is my only real issue with Linklater... it really seems like this is all he's trying to do. He's trying to seem brilliant. I think that's one of the reasons he doesn't seem brilliant... his effort is a little too obvious. I still like him and I'm going to watch Slacker this week just because I want to see "Old" Austin again (and I like that movie a lot), I just can't accept him as truly great.

I just finished devouring the Slacker Criterion disc(s), which was quite wonderful. I forgot how much I liked the movie. One of these days I should revisit some of Linklater's other films (I saw Dazed like 7 years ago and remembered hating it, definitely need to see Waking Life again-- which is a companion of sorts to Slacker-- and speaking of, is it me, or is Linklater now on the track of 'redoing' his old flicks? I mean, you have Slacker/Waking Life, Before Sunrise/Sunset, School of Rock/Bad News Bears? Just a thought).

I've never seen Slacker (blasphemy!) but Waking Life was of course very good in that it pushed the artistic envelope, if only slightly.Now, as for sequels and re-doings, I pretty much think it's just an AWESOME idea to do a sequel to something 10 years later, with the same characters, and acting talent, with a continued storyline and just...I dunno. Make it grow?? Much respect for that.And as for the School of Rock/ Bad News Bears thing: I fucking LOVE Bad News Bears and hope whoever the coach is can live up to Matthau (impossible). I would think that after having a positive experience with School of Rock, Linklater would want to work with kids again. And even if Linklater is TRYING to be brilliant, I gotta say...School of Rock was one of a kind. I loved it.

Three of Hollywood director Richard Linklater's ex-classmates are suing Universal Studios, after enduring jokes over characters based on them in Dazed And Confused. Richard Floyd, Andy Slater and Bobby Wooderson claim Linklater never asked them if he could use their surnames for characters in the cult film. The men say they have been viewed in a different light by neighbors and friends ever since the 1993 movie, about a group of alcohol and drug-consuming students on the last day of school in 1976, was released. Slater's lawyer Ernest Freeman says people assume his client takes illegal narcotics because of the marijuana and Lsd-loving character, played by Rory Cochrane, in Dazed and Confused. And Floyd, who now works at a car showroom in Huntsville, Texas, says, "We had fun in high school, but there is nothing true about that movie. Yet I am having to deal with it all the time."

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Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Three of Hollywood director Richard Linklater's ex-classmates are suing Universal Studios, after enduring jokes over characters based on them in Dazed And Confused. Richard Floyd, Andy Slater and Bobby Wooderson claim Linklater never asked them if he could use their surnames for characters in the cult film. The men say they have been viewed in a different light by neighbors and friends ever since the 1993 movie, about a group of alcohol and drug-consuming students on the last day of school in 1976, was released. Slater's lawyer Ernest Freeman says people assume his client takes illegal narcotics because of the marijuana and Lsd-loving character, played by Rory Cochrane, in Dazed and Confused. And Floyd, who now works at a car showroom in Huntsville, Texas, says, "We had fun in high school, but there is nothing true about that movie. Yet I am having to deal with it all the time."

What is dumber -- that, or "NC-17, for scenes of explicit puppet sex."

I became infuriated after reading that in today's newspaper. First off that film came out OVER ten years ago! Why did they wait so long? If "there is nothing true about that movie" then why are they suing? To say their neighbors view them differently because of that film is just plain ridiculous. stop lying.